Battery backup units (BBUs) can be used in conjunction with optical power supply units (OPSUs) to power optical network terminals (ONTs) at customer premises. Such arrangement provides backup power to the ONTs in the event of a power outage of the power grid serving the customer premises. Typically, during normal operation, an ONT may receive power from the power grid. However, during power outage of the power grid, such as during a natural disaster, brown out, etc., the BBUs may supply power to the ONTs. In situations where the ONTs supply voice service to the customer premises, the BBUs are needed to supply the power to maintain the voice service for a period of time. In these various scenarios for backup power, the continual servicing and maintenance can be rather expensive and complex for service providers.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an approach that can provide auxiliary power more cost-effectively, facilitate ease of maintenance, and provide increased power support times. In addition, a need has been identified which would allow the customers to determine their own need for power based on usage choices and based on readily available batteries with familiar form factors to allow customers to maintain their own backup power system.